Sunday, November 18, 2018

Hoping to find the woman who saved his grandfather
from the Nazis during World War II, a young Jewish man travels from New York
City to the Ukraine in “Everything Is Illuminated,” Simon Block’s adaptation of
Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel presented by Aurora Theatre Company.

When Jonathan (Jeremy Kahn) arrives in the late
1990s, he is met by his guide and translator Alex (Adam Burch). They are to be
driven by Alex’s semi-blind, curmudgeonly Grandfather (Julian López-Morillas).

The only information Jonathan has is that his
grandfather lived in a now obliterated shtetl and that the woman’s name was Augustine.
He has a snapshot that he believes shows her.

He never finds her, but along the way he imagines
his ancestry going back to the 18th century.

Alex, however, learns much more about Grandfather’s
experiences during the war.

Lura Dolas as Woman with Adam Burch.

Act 1 moves slowly with some crude humor from Alex,
and it doesn’t get very far except at the very end. That’s when the three men
meet the old Woman (Lura Dolas).

Dressed all in white with long white hair,
she’s a ghostly figure.

As Act 2 begins, she’s reluctant to help them, but
then she shows them her collected artifacts that were buried in the area. She
also leads them to the site of the former Jewish village.

This act is highlighted by two moving monologues. In
the first, the Woman tells the gruesome story of how her sisters were brutally
killed by Nazi soldiers.

In the second, Grandfather finally tells Alex his
painful secret from World War II.

Completing the cast is Marissa Keltie, playing several
female characters.

Production values are high, too, with the set by
Kate Boyd, lighting by Kurt Landisman, costumes by Callie Floor and sound by
Matt Stines.

Ross points out in the program that Foer’s novel is
based on an actual trip he took at age 20 after his sophomore year at
Princeton.

Although his book about the trip apparently was a
success, it doesn’t adapt well to the stage, at least not in Block’s
interpretation. It also was a 2005 film that lost money.

Running about two hours and 20 minutes with one
intermission, “Everything Is Illuminated” will continue through Dec. 9 at
Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. For tickets and information, call
(510) 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

Robert Schenkkan’s “All the Way” goes back 55 years
to what happened after that awful day, Nov. 22, 1963, when President John F.
Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

This docudrama, presented by Palo Alto Players,
relates what his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, did in the year between becoming
what he called “an accidental president” and seeking election in his own right
in 1964.

Played by Michael Monagle, the folksy but wily
Texan’s first goal was to see the landmark Civil Rights Act enacted. After
succeeding in that endeavor, he then sought the Democratic nomination and
election. The play’s title comes from his election slogan, “All the way with
LBJ.”

Getting the Civil Rights Act through Congress was an
enormous task, given the staunch opposition by Southern Democrats.

It once included a voting rights provision, but he
was forced to compromise by dropping it and sticking with just equal rights to
employment and public accommodations.

This compromise didn’t sit well with black leaders like
the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (Fred Pitts), the fiery Stokely Carmichael
(William Bryant Jr.) and others. They agreed, though, after Johnson promised he
would push for voting rights after the election. The amended bill passed in
June 1964.

There were more obstacles along the way, but Johnson managed to succeed.

He did so through flattery, threats, promises and
demands for loyalty from his backers as well as those who stood in his way.

The play ends with his landslide victory over Sen. Barry
Goldwater.

It has a hint of the Vietnam War to come when
Defense Secretary Robert McNamara reports a possible North Vietnamese attack
against Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin and requests a military response.

It only touches on Johnson’s planned War on Poverty,
a signature accomplishment after his election.

All of this history plays out in a fascinating way
for those who lived through those times. It has some painfully familiar
parallels to what’s happening today with demonization of immigrants, attempts at voter suppression in the
South and some presidential tactics that have less noble goals than Johnson’s.

Directed by Peter Allas, many in the 19-member cast
play multiple roles. Some of the more memorable characters are Sen. Hubert
Humphrey (Tom Gough), who became Johnson’s vice president; Walter Jenkins
(Kevin Copps), Johnson’s valued aide who was disgraced after a sexual encounter
with a man; and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Andrew Harris), who was himself
outed later; among many others.

Although the acting isn’t as polished as in the 2012
world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, this production is still
well done and highly fascinating.

It’s facilitated by the sets and projections by
Randy Wong-Westbrooke, costumes by R. Dutch Fritz, lighting by Rick Amerson and
sound by James Goode.

Running about two hours and 45 minutes with one
intermission, “All the Way” will continue through Nov. 18 at the Lucie Stern
Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

AISLE SAY SF Reviews 2000-2017

About Me

Judy reviews San Francisco Bay Area theater and writes feature articles about activities of the Stanford Women's Basketball team and Fast Break Club. A longtime Bay Area journalist, she is retired from the San Francisco Chronicle, where she was a writer and copy editor.